Setup The Plugin

This section covers how to setup the plugin. It assumes you already have a standard Google Account.

1. Enable the Google Text-To-Speech API.

1. If you don't have a Google Cloud Platform account, sign up here.
2. Go to the Google Cloud Console and create a new project, or select an existing one.

3. Open the API & Services library.

4. Search for Text to speech and select Cloud Text-to-Speech API.

5. Click on Enable to enable the Google Text-to-Speech API for the project.

You need to enable billing for the account.

2. Get an API Key

1. Go to the Google Cloud API Credentials page and click on Create Credentials > API key.

2. Once the API key is created, copy the key and click on Edit API key.

3. Enter a unique name for your API key.
4. Select Restrict Key. In the combo box, select Cloud Text-to-Speech API.
5. Click Save.

3. Use the API Key

The last step is to use the API key to allow the plugin to synthesize text.

There are three ways to setup the API key.

3.1. Use an Environment Variable

The plugin automatically checks for an environment variable named UE_GTTS_APIKEY. If it is set, its value will be used.

Using this method will only work on devices where the variable is set. If you package the game and run it on another device, it won't be able to read the API key.

3.2. Use the Plugin's Configuration

Open the project's settings, and paste your API key under API Key.

Doing that will package the API key in a config file. Make sure you correctly restricted its use.

3.3. Set the API Key Programmatically

You can set the API key by calling the SetAPIKey function:

BlueprintsC++

// Header for the function.
#include "GoogleTTS/GoogleTTS.h"
// In some function called at the beginning of your app.
GoogleTTS::SetAPIKey(TEXT("YOUR_API_KEY"));

Begin Object Class=/Script/BlueprintGraph.K2Node_Event Name="K2Node_Event_3" ExportPath="/Script/BlueprintGraph.K2Node_Event'/Game/DemoActor.DemoActor:EventGraph.K2Node_Event_3'" EventReference=(MemberParent="/Script/CoreUObject.Class'/Script/Engine.Actor'",MemberName="ReceiveBeginPlay") bOverrideFunction=True NodePosX=-2512 NodePosY=-2531 NodeGuid=19E7426B43B43126C54BD995A99C3E86 CustomProperties Pin (PinId=C8D34DA747DAAD2DA7245DAAD0FD0E25,PinName="OutputDelegate",Direction="EGPD_Output",PinType.PinCategory="delegate",PinType.PinSubCategory="",PinType.PinSubCategoryObject=None,PinType.PinSubCategoryMemberReference=(MemberParent="/Script/CoreUObject.Class'/Script/Engine.Actor'",MemberName="ReceiveBeginPlay"),PinType.PinValueType=(),PinType.ContainerType=None,PinType.bIsReference=False,PinType.bIsConst=False,PinType.bIsWeakPointer=False,PinType.bIsUObjectWrapper=False,PinType.bSerializeAsSinglePrecisionFloat=False,PersistentGuid=00000000000000000000000000000000,bHidden=False,bNotConnectable=False,bDefaultValueIsReadOnly=False,bDefaultValueIsIgnored=False,bAdvancedView=False,bOrphanedPin=False,) CustomProperties Pin (PinId=4450491842A1DBE7D5B448AC823354F1,PinName="then",Direction="EGPD_Output",PinType.PinCategory="exec",PinType.PinSubCategory="",PinType.PinSubCategoryObject=None,PinType.PinSubCategoryMemberReference=(),PinType.PinValueType=(),PinType.ContainerType=None,PinType.bIsReference=False,PinType.bIsConst=False,PinType.bIsWeakPointer=False,PinType.bIsUObjectWrapper=False,PinType.bSerializeAsSinglePrecisionFloat=False,LinkedTo=(K2Node_CallFunction_10 BACBE32241C4963151B9A1A7750D3974,),PersistentGuid=00000000000000000000000000000000,bHidden=False,bNotConnectable=False,bDefaultValueIsReadOnly=False,bDefaultValueIsIgnored=False,bAdvancedView=False,bOrphanedPin=False,) End Object Begin Object Class=/Script/BlueprintGraph.K2Node_CallFunction Name="K2Node_CallFunction_10" ExportPath="/Script/BlueprintGraph.K2Node_CallFunction'/Game/DemoActor.DemoActor:EventGraph.K2Node_CallFunction_10'" FunctionReference=(MemberParent="/Script/CoreUObject.Class'/Script/GoogleTTS.GoogleTTSBlueprintLibrary'",MemberName="SetAPIKey") NodePosX=-2272 NodePosY=-2528 NodeGuid=8FA5A51246362AD1C01CAD8D0D4E2C6D CustomProperties Pin (PinId=BACBE32241C4963151B9A1A7750D3974,PinName="execute",PinToolTip="\nExec",PinType.PinCategory="exec",PinType.PinSubCategory="",PinType.PinSubCategoryObject=None,PinType.PinSubCategoryMemberReference=(),PinType.PinValueType=(),PinType.ContainerType=None,PinType.bIsReference=False,PinType.bIsConst=False,PinType.bIsWeakPointer=False,PinType.bIsUObjectWrapper=False,PinType.bSerializeAsSinglePrecisionFloat=False,LinkedTo=(K2Node_Event_3 4450491842A1DBE7D5B448AC823354F1,),PersistentGuid=00000000000000000000000000000000,bHidden=False,bNotConnectable=False,bDefaultValueIsReadOnly=False,bDefaultValueIsIgnored=False,bAdvancedView=False,bOrphanedPin=False,) CustomProperties Pin (PinId=5864FB19472818FFBA12B3A01490BFC7,PinName="then",PinToolTip="\nExec",Direction="EGPD_Output",PinType.PinCategory="exec",PinType.PinSubCategory="",PinType.PinSubCategoryObject=None,PinType.PinSubCategoryMemberReference=(),PinType.PinValueType=(),PinType.ContainerType=None,PinType.bIsReference=False,PinType.bIsConst=False,PinType.bIsWeakPointer=False,PinType.bIsUObjectWrapper=False,PinType.bSerializeAsSinglePrecisionFloat=False,PersistentGuid=00000000000000000000000000000000,bHidden=False,bNotConnectable=False,bDefaultValueIsReadOnly=False,bDefaultValueIsIgnored=False,bAdvancedView=False,bOrphanedPin=False,) CustomProperties Pin (PinId=A1AF3A684DF67FAD236B1E904EA3CD55,PinName="self",PinFriendlyName=NSLOCTEXT("K2Node", "Target", "Target"),PinToolTip="Target\nGoogle TTSBlueprint Library Object Reference",PinType.PinCategory="object",PinType.PinSubCategory="",PinType.PinSubCategoryObject="/Script/CoreUObject.Class'/Script/GoogleTTS.GoogleTTSBlueprintLibrary'",PinType.PinSubCategoryMemberReference=(),PinType.PinValueType=(),PinType.ContainerType=None,PinType.bIsReference=False,PinType.bIsConst=False,PinType.bIsWeakPointer=False,PinType.bIsUObjectWrapper=False,PinType.bSerializeAsSinglePrecisionFloat=False,DefaultObject="/Script/GoogleTTS.Default__GoogleTTSBlueprintLibrary",PersistentGuid=00000000000000000000000000000000,bHidden=True,bNotConnectable=False,bDefaultValueIsReadOnly=False,bDefaultValueIsIgnored=False,bAdvancedView=False,bOrphanedPin=False,) CustomProperties Pin (PinId=33E4FC954A54A3B3A515D28842742EB3,PinName="APIKey",PinToolTip="APIKey\nString",PinType.PinCategory="string",PinType.PinSubCategory="",PinType.PinSubCategoryObject=None,PinType.PinSubCategoryMemberReference=(),PinType.PinValueType=(),PinType.ContainerType=None,PinType.bIsReference=False,PinType.bIsConst=False,PinType.bIsWeakPointer=False,PinType.bIsUObjectWrapper=False,PinType.bSerializeAsSinglePrecisionFloat=False,DefaultValue="YOUR_API_KEY",PersistentGuid=00000000000000000000000000000000,bHidden=False,bNotConnectable=False,bDefaultValueIsReadOnly=False,bDefaultValueIsIgnored=False,bAdvancedView=False,bOrphanedPin=False,) End Object Copy Code

Doing that will package the API key. Make sure you correctly restricted its use.

4. (Optional) Setup Plugin for C++ Use

An additional setup must be done to use the plugin from C++. You can skip this step if you don't intend to use the plugin using C++.

4.1. Add the GoogleTTS Module

Open the <ModuleName>.Build.cs file and add the following line in the constructor:

PrivateDependencyModuleNames.Add("GoogleTTS");

You need to regenerate project files for the includes to work.

4.2. Include the Files

At the top of the file where you want to use the API, add the following line:

#include "GoogleTTS/GoogleTTS.h"